1. Costarica, the most southern State, contains about 100,000 inhabitants, and comprehends the greater part of the mountain-region of the Isthmus of Nicaragua, under which head its harbours and towns have been already noticed. 2. Nicaragua, with about 200,000 inhabitants, comprehends the greater part of the plain of Nicaragua, and a small part of the tableland of Honduras. The harbours and towns of the plain-country have been noticed in the description of the Isthmus of Nicaragua. On the table-land is the town of New Segovia, a small place, in the neighbourhood of which excellent tobacco is grown. 3. Honduras, with about 300,000 inhabitants, comprehends the greatest part of the table-land of Honduras, and all the countries between it and the Caribbean sea. On the south it extends to the Bay of Conchagua. The greatest number of mines, and the most productive, are within this State, which is also rich in cattle. The harbours on the Caribbean Sea are Truxillo and Omoa; and on the Bay of Conchagua, Seba. The inland-towns are Comayagua and Tegucigalpa. Truxillo is an open bay, which contains a roadstead. Mahogany is cut in the neighbourhood, and is almost the only article of export. The town, with the adjacent hamlets, contains about 4000 inhabitants. Omoa, in 15° 38′ N. lat., and 88° 20′ W. long., has a small bay, forming a good harbour, by which most of the European goods destined for Guatemala and St. Salvador are imported. It is an unhealthy place, and chiefly inhabited by a few mulattoes. Seba, near the mouth of the Rio Choluteca, is a small port on the Bay of Conchagua, by which the produce of the mines of Tabanco is exported. Valladolid de Comayagua, the capital of the State, is situated nearly in its centre, between two rivers, in a fine valley, with 3000 inhabitants. It is an unhealthy place. Tegucigalpa, situated on the higher portion of the table-land, is the most populous place in the State, containing from 8000 to 10,000 inhabitants. In its neighbourhood are mines of gold, silver, copper, and iron. 4. Salvador, the smallest (but the most populous in proportion to its extent) of the States of Central America, contains about 300,000 inhabitants, and extends over the terraces by which the table-land of Honduras descends to the Pacific. It produces nearly all the articles which are exported to Europe, especially indigo, and has good iron-mines. Along the shores the black balsam is collected. The State has only one harbour, that of Union, or Conchagua, situated on the gulf of the same name: this harbour is spacious and safe, and may be considered as the port of S. Miguel, which lies farther west. Between the Gulf of Conchagua and the port of Acapulco there is no harbour on the coast of the Pacific, and trading-vessels are obliged to anchor in open roadsteads. The roadsteads resorted to in this State are Libertad, where the goods destined for S. Salvador are unshipped, and Acajutla, the port of Sonsonate. Nearly in the centre of this State is the Federal District, with the capital of the Union, called S. Salvador, which contains above 16,000 inhabitants. This town is not remarkable for its buildings, but the inhabitants are industrious, and have manufactures of iron and cotton. It is situated between fine hills, on a small river called Aselhaute. The Federal District lies around the town in a circle, with a radius of about 11 miles, except towards the Pacific, where it extends to the harbour of Libertad, about 26 miles distant. The volcano of S. Salvador is within the Federal District. S. Vicente, the capital of the State of Salvador, contains about 8000 inhabitants. In its neighbourhood are the most extensive plantations of indigo and tobacco, the latter on the declivity of the volcano of St. Vicente. St. Miguel, with 8000 inhabitants, is noted for its fairs, the most important of which is held in the month of November, after the indigo crop-that article being raised in great quantities in its neighbourhood. The town is unhealthy, especially in the beginning of the dry season. Sacatecoluca is a considerable place in the low country which borders the Pacific, with 8000 inhabitants. A considerable quantity of indigo is raised in the neighbourhood. Sonsonate, about 12 miles from the roadstead of Acajutla, is a considerable place, with 10,000 inhabitants, who make and export fancy shell-work to the amount of 10,000l. per annum. In its neighbourhood much sugar is grown, and it is from this place alone, in Central America, that sugar is exported. The sugar goes to Peru. Near the town is the volcano Izalco. Aguachapa, with 8000 inhabitants, is in a country in which much sugar is cultivated. In the neighbourhood there is a spouting hot-spring. Sta. Anna has 10,000 inhabitants. In the neighbourhood there are extensive plantations of indigo and of the sugar-cane. The best sugar in the country is made here. In the mountains near the town are rich iron-mines, which are worked. Metapa, near the Lake of Metapa, has 8000 inhabitants; and ironmines in the neighbourhood. 5. Guatemala, the largest of the States of Central America, contains 600,000 inhabitants, and includes the whole of the Table-land of Guatemala, as far as it belongs to Central America, together with the country between it and the Gulf of Honduras and the coast on the Pacific skirting the table-land. On the coast of the Pacific is the district of Soconusco, once noted for its cacao. Cochineal, mahogany, sarsaparilla, pimento, and a small quantity of vanilla, are the exports of this State. On the Pacific is the roadstead of Istapa, or Indepencia, at the mouth of the Rio Michatoyat: the embouchure of the river forms a harbour, very difficult of access, and rarely visited. The port of Izabal, situated on the Golfo Dulce, is reached by means of the Rio Dulce. No vessels drawing more than from 6 to 7 feet of water can enter the river; nevertheless, a large part of the goods brought from Europe enter Central America by this way. Izabal itself is a small place, containing hardly more than 100 inhabitants, and is very unhealthy." New Guatemala, the capital of the State, is situated on an undulating plain 4961 feet above the sea. The houses are large and convenient, but only one story high, and with thick walls; the streets are broad, straight, and partly paved. The public buildings are numerous, and consist of a university, five convents, four nunneries, a cathedral, four parish-churches, the treasury, the mint, and other government offices; most of them are in a good style of architecture, and some of them judiciously decorated. The great hospital, called S. Juan de Dios, can receive 400 patients. Water is brought, by an aqueduct, from a spring about five miles from the town, and conducted into twelve public reservoirs, from which it is distributed to the private houses. A fine bust of Jenner adorns one of the principal fountains. The population of New Guatemala, including some adjacent places, amounts to 40,000 souls. sea. Old Guatemala (La Antigua) is situated in a narrow valley between the two volcanoes called Del Agua and Del Fuego, 5817 feet above the Till 1773 it was the capital of the country, but in that year it was destroyed by repeated earthquakes. New Guatemala was then built, and the seat of government transferred to it. A considerable number of inhabitants however remained at Old Guatemala, the population of which now exceeds 12,000. A great part of the town is filled with ruins, but it still contains some fine buildings. It has also some cotton-manufactories. Few places in the world are more picturesque than the country about Old Guatemala. The volcano del Agua is 12,620 feet above the sea, and the volcano del Fuego still higher. Totonicapán contains 12,000 inhabitants, nearly all aborigines; they make considerable quantities of earthenware, wooden utensils, and woollen cloth. Quezaltenango contains 14,000 inhabitants, and has considerable woollen and cotton manufactures. In its neighbourhood is a volcano and a hot spouting spring, the waters of which rise to the height of 20 or 30 feet. Coban, in an undulating and very pleasant valley, contains 14,000 inhabitants, nearly all of whom are aborigines, who are much more wealthy in this town than in any other part of the country. The valley is exceedingly fertile, and covered with plantations of sugar-cane, bananas, and pimento-trees, and various kinds of fruit-trees. Salamà, with 5000 inhabitants, is situated on the road between Guatemala and the Embarcadero de Teleman on the Polochic. Gualàn, a small town, containing only 2000 inhabitants, on the Rio Motagua, is the place where the goods which ascend the river are unladen, and those intended for European markets are embarked. The State of Guatemala contains many large villages, some of which have a very considerable population. All these villages are situated on the table-land. 6. The roads are generally bad, being little more than uneven paths, except in some parts of the coast along the Pacific, as between S. Miguel and Sacateluca, where a carriage-road exists. The rivers, which intersect these roads, must be forded, as there are no bridges, except a few hanging bridges made of creepers. The use of mules, both for travelling and the transport of goods, is general. Manufacturing industry is not entirely wanting. In many places earthenware is made; and, on the higher portion of the table-land of Guatemala, in the towns of Quezaltenango and Totonicapàn, as well as in Old Guatemala, there are manufactures of cotton and wool. The introduction of English cotton and woollen goods has, however, somewhat diminished this branch of industry. The chamarras, a kind of black cloaks, which are used by the Indians as well as all persons of mixed breed, are only made in these towns, and never brought from foreign countries. The cotton cloth is coarse, but strong, and the Indians prefer it to all others. It is supposed that the annual value of the woollen and cotton goods made in the State of Guatemala and exported to the other States does not fall short of 40,000/. It is not easy to form a just notion of the extent of the commerce of Central America for want of accurate information. It seems, however, to be much more considerable than is commonly supposed, which may be owing to the circumstance that the chief exports are made from the coast of the Pacific. According to an estimate made by Haefkens, the annual exports of the State of Nicaragua, before the civil commotions, amounted to upwards of 100,000l., though some articles were left out of the account. The indigo crop may be estimated at an annual average amount of 900,000 lbs. or 1,000,000lbs., and that of cochineal at 100,000lbs. If order is permanently established, Central America cannot fail to rise to a high degree of prosperity. Gold and silver are among the most considerable articles of export. In 15 years, from 1796 to 1810, the mint of Guatemala coined 283 marks (each of 12 ounces) of gold, and 253,560 marks of silver. In the following 15 years, from 1811 to 1825, the same mint issued to the amount of 1525 marks of gold and 438,881 marks of silver. But since that time this amount has greatly decreased in consequence of the increase in the exportation of the precious metals by smuggling, as it is supposed. The Constitution of the United States of Central America (Estados Federados, or Republica federal de Centro-America) is modelled on that of the United States of North America. Every State is independent of the rest, and the decision of the congress is binding on all the States only in certain determinate cases. The congress consists of a president, a Senate, and a house of representatives. The Senate is composed of 10 members; every State electing two. The house of representatives consists of 46 members, every 30,000 inhabitants being entitled, according to the Federal constitution, to choose a representative. Slavery has been abolished. The Roman Catholic is the religion of the States, but the exercise of every other religion is permitted, except in Salvador, where, according to a law of the State, the Roman Catholic religion alone can be publicly professed. The revenue of the Federal government amounts, according to a rough estimate of Haefkens, to about 681,359 Spanish dollars; and the annual expenses, according to the budget of 1825, to 652,608 Spanish dollars; in the latter, the expenses of the army and navy are stated as 469,524 Spanish dollars. The debt contracted in England is 7 millions of dollars; besides which the government of Central America has a debt contracted in the country, during the Spanish dominion, which amounts to 24 millions of dollars. The revenues of each State, according to Haefkens, are as follow:- Nicaragua Honduras and Costarica 100,000 . 100,000 60,000 70,000 330,000 Sp. dollars. The same author thinks, that the effective force of the army may consist of about 8000 men; but some reductions have taken place since the termination of the civil war. We are not informed whether there is any navy. (History.) Columbus, in his third voyage, in 1502, discovered the whole coast from Cape Gracias à Dios on the north, to the harbour of Porto Velo on the south. The first Spanish settlement on the American continent was formed by Nuñez de Balboa, in 1510, at Santa Maria, on the Isthmus of Darien, near 9° N. lat.; but, on account of the unhealthiness of the place, it was abandoned in 1513, and transferred, by Pedrarias, to Panama, on the shores of the Pacific. From this place the Spaniards carried their discoveries northward, whilst Cortes conquered Mexico between 1519 and 1521. When Cortes had accomplished this great enterprise, he sent one of his most distinguished officers, Pedro Alvarado, in 1523, to effect the conquest of Central America, which was accomplished in two years; but the Spaniards never succeeded in subjecting the Indian tribes which inhabit the low country |